Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-12-25
A VISIT TO KIOTO.
AN AMERICANS EXPERIENCE IN A JAP
ANESE TOWN.
The Imperial Palace, Temples, AOnaSriss and Idols.
Ancient SuparSifons and the Forces at
Work for Their Overthrow.
Gnclnnaf Commercfal Gasats.

-N
the paddy fields suggestive of malariaI
fever. The hills OF white decomposing
granite along the northern horizon seemed
to glow in the afternoon sunlight as ifthey
had just been taken out Of a porcelain fur
mace and set down to cool of. Smells,
Ugh! The City Of Cologne has fifty stinks
and seventy-tiYe stenches, bu the much
Wanted japanese system Of enriching the
fields by means Of the soil from privy
vaults geDders more foul odors than it is
possible to count. 1t is time for planting
out tufnips, and as l rode by field after
field in which this luscious root was being
carefully set in long rows l prayed for
fresh air, or temporary paralysis of the
nerves of smell. Plui! Bah! It makes
me sick to remember it.
Ny fatigue and disgust were forgotten
when | reached the Yaami Hotel in Kioto.
The Yaami is a good house, perched upon
q spur of the hills which rise along the
eastern side of the city. A magnificent
view Of the place is obtained from the bal
comics. The hotel itself is queer agglOm-
Grafton Of buildings, some n some two
and some three stories in height, and
looking very muck as if they had been
built ont OF the remains of an old temple.
The room are comfortable, provided with
baths and electric bells, and furnished in
European style. The table is good,
though the ''quails on toast" of the bil! OF
fare turned ont yesterday TO be shrikes on
toast.
The ownership and management are en-
tirely japanese. The register shows 200
foreign arrivals since January /, 1887.
The globe ~trotter" evidently takes kindly
to the Yaami. The latest arrivals have
been Prince Dewongse and his Siamese
suite, who are on their way home from the
jubilee celebration in London. The juve-
niles Of the party invaded my bedroom
this morning before | wa quite dressed, in
order TO have a look at Miss Plum"
my precious travelling companion, who still
mOurnS in plaintive tones her separation
from the pleasant groves in which her
young apshOod was passed, and does not
quite appreciate the tender caresses and
! Observation-Disclosures Vi liz EAulCl ACdu ChplOl. Iul
if she does not like me she likes Siamese
and japanese boys still less, and they
learned soon to keep at q respectful dis
lance from that iniamed face and those
rows of shining teeth. Poor, dear child.
She shall learn to love ME yet, if it takes a
bushel Of chestnuts to open the doors to her
heart.
The visitor to KiotO finds much in the
round of sightseeing which recalls his eX-
perienCaS in Italian cities, saw that in
stead OF churches he is called upon to go
the rounds of innumrable temples OF
course everybody goes to visit the I'M
perial Palace, which is located in the
northern part OF the city. In order to OBJ
tain q view Of the interior permission
must he obtained from the Imperial House
hold Department at Toxic, The palace
does not consist OF a single large edifce,
hut OF q number of buildings built in
strictly japanese style, and inClOsed in q
| large OblOng compound containing twenty
| six acres and surrounded by a stucco wall
twenty feet high, covered with a tile root
and pierced rs 4 number of large gate
ways.
The southern gate is the largest, and is
used upon State occasions. The gate on
the eastern side, near the front of the in
CLOSURE, is used by the Empress, who is not
allowed to 20 in and 20 out by the same
wav a. her husband. The buildings with
IN the iurlGsure DO not possess any pecu.
| liar architectural interest. They are large
and roGuiy, the apartments covered with
| beautiful, lott mating, and the screens
decorated with paintings by well known
masters in the style which is familiar now
adavs to every one as strictly Japanese.
| These pictures mainly represent flowers
and birds. Some OF them are exceedingly
we'll executed.
The temples and mOnasteries in kiOtO
proved Of tor greater interest TO me than
! the palace. The base of the hill upon
which the Yaami Hotel stands is literally
covered with Buddhist establishments,
mauy of them surrounded by beautiful
gardens and groves, commanding a fire
/ view OF the city, and dating their original
foundation from q remote past. As | sit
in my room and write | can hear the mo-
]notnuous tum-tum Of the drums in the
temple attached to the Cbion-in Mouas-
terry, the grounds OF which adjOin those of
the hotel on the north. This drumming is
the first sound | hear in the morning and
the last thing | hear at night. This
ChIon-in Monastery boasts the possession
| o rone OF the largest bells in Japan, a mon
ster of bronze, eleven feet high, nine feet
in diameter, and niue and one-half inches
thick at the rim. =.
Japanese bells are not ruDg, but strudS
bv a wooden beam which is swung again,
| them, falling upon Il projecting bass upon
their sides. The sound Of this bell is like
musical thunder. The tone Of these bells
il iucouceivably sweet and rich. The best
bell of European or American make com.
pares in tore with these as the nasal twang
of a Yankee s~chOolmaster compared with
the voice of a Kellogg or a Patti. Why dc
not some of our wealthy churches import
tirst class japanese bells and swing them
in their beltries? 1t would be an act OF
kindness to ears now raCked and tortured
BIZ inha.mOnious iangling and harsh dis
cord.
The residence of the Abbot Of the Chion,
in is filled with artistic and literary treas.
ures. Some OF the decorated screens are by
celebrated masters, aud are truly beautiful,
Some are curious rather than replete with
artistic sense. Among the latter l may
mentron the greasy blotch upon the Shoji,
which Is pointed out as the sparrow painted
by Nobumasa in such life.like manner thai
il flew off from the screen, and the pine
trees upon the doors in the veranda which
exuGed pitch. so natural were they. A:
for as | could judge the emulation Of pitch
arose from the door themselves, which art
of pine. and was due to the heat of the sur
rather than the skill of the artist.
To the east OF the hotel upon the hill
side stand in long succession temples and
pagodas endowed in beautiful groves and
gardens. One of the most remarkable o.
these Establishments is the kloymidzudera-
the origin of which is shrouded in the
mists of a remote antiquity. The deity
worshiped here is the Goddess of kice, who
fills a place in the Japanese Pantheon ana
locous to that OF Ceres among the ole
Greeks and Romans. She is said tC
have revealed herself upon the hill back o.
the temple twelve hundred and more year:
ago and indicated this as a fit place fol